Opera ReviewMarch 1, 2014 Rusalka by Betty Mohr A sea nymph wants to be transformed into a human because she’s fallen in love with a prince. She convinces a witch to change her into human form, but in doing so she is destined to lose the power of speech. That may sound a lot like Disney’s movie of The Little Mermaid, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale, but Antonin Dvorak’s opera, Rusalka, offers a lot more in romance, love, tragedy, a glorious musical score and great performances. In its new production of the opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago has pulled out all stops to make this Czech masterpiece stand out. Ignored for a century (perhaps its Czech-language arias were difficult for opera songbirds to sing), Rusalka is a stunning Lyric triumph, which has been brought to the attention of the operatic world by famed soprano Renee Fleming. Opening on a small lake and dark forest, then moving to an orange-gold palace, before returning to a wooded landscape, the opera setting by John Macfarlane offers an evocative fabled atmosphere. It’s a moody backdrop to Dvorak’s romantic and melodic music, given a rich and lush presentation by music director Sir Andrew Davis, who leads the Lyric Orchestra into heights of mesmerizing glory. And, as always, the Lyric chorus, led by Michael Black, is in top form. Although Rusalka is supposed to be mute, Ana Maria Martinez gives the most superb voice to the water sprite’s passionate longing for a flawed prince. With a sweet soprano, Martinez well portrays the woman’s desire and desperation that immediately captures our hearts. As the prince, handsome Brandon Jovanovich brings out some humanity to the wavering man, who kisses one woman and then another, and can’t make up his mind as to whom he really loves. The prince is really a dastardly fellow, but Jovanovich’s golden tenor makes the character more appealing then he would be otherwise. The other woman, a foreign princess to whom the prince transfers his wandering attention, is played with flirtatious power by Ekaterina Gubanova, a mezzo-soprano whose duets with Jovanovich were pure splendor. In addition, there is mezzo-soprano Jill Grove who as the witch Jezibaba, recalls one of Shakespeare’s witches from Macbeth; and then bass-baritone Eric Owens as Rusalka’s father, is eerily dressed in a dirty tuxedo with a wizened beard as a Water Goblin. The costuming of these two characters, as well as the black crows that resemble vultures by Moritz Junge provides some comic relief to this serious and somber opera. While director David McVicar has done an outstanding job of staging the opera, he overreaches by inserting environmentalist overtones that were never Dvorak’s intent. When Dvorak composed Rosalka in 1901, there wasn’t a whiff of an environmentalist agenda in Czechoslovakia, or the world. No, when Dvorak composed this grand opera at the turn-of-the-century, people were not worried about abusing nature. They were more concerned with using the fruits of nature to eat, to keep warm, to shelter, to live, and to survive—something that people who believe that the lowest insect is more important than humans know nothing about. That said, this thrilling opera was worth the wait of a century. It’s not often that we’re treated to a new masterpiece as special as this new production of Rusalka. RusalkaWhen: Through March 16, 2014Where: Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, ChicagoTickets: $34-$244Information: Call 312.332.2244 or visit www.lyricopera.org